The feel of Yoganusasanam

  

It’s been over a month now and the feel of Yoganusasanam in me is still alive. Though our classes in Hyderabad are at halt due to some reasons, my practice isn’t affected yet. The fuel of Geetaji’s convention is still running and I must say that my practice is going on smooth and well. Guruji always said, the beginners need some inspiration for practice and what can be a greater inspiration than Geetaji? At yoganusasanam I learned how important the basics to build up a good platform for yog sadhana are.

Geeta Iyengar’s “Yoganusasanam-December2014”, the event of the year for all Iyengar yogis across World kept in skepticism ever since it has been announced. When it was announced at the institute of Pune, it spread like a fire on internet circle and everyone got excited about it. A few days later the news of Guruji’s ill health started making rounds in the community. On 20^th August 2014 Guruji left his mortal body leaving his followers in grief. Now the skepticism began to follow on cancellation of the event.

In the month of October my teacher Smt. Zarna Mohan announced that Geetaji is going ahead with her convention and few days later the institute of Pune confirmed and the registrations were invited online for the same. Our teacher referred the names of 12 students from Hyderabad for the convention.

Organization of the event:

Ever since the announcement of the event, there was a great enthusiasm among Iyengar Yogis all over the World. Looking at the enthusiasm of people willing to participate and the short period of time they had in hand for making arrangements for such a large group of people was really a challenge for RIMYI as they had never conducted such a big event in India before. They even had to shift the earlier announced venue of Law College from Baner to a Badminton court at Balewadi stadium on the outskirts of Pune to accommodate all the participants. Within a few days of lines opening up for registration, it was known that 1000 plus yogis are going to participate from all over the World. After yoga hall, the next challenge was to provide living accommodation and food for such a huge number of participants. They have arranged nearby hotels and a hostel near Balewadi stadium to accommodate and provided lunch at the Venue itself. Some of them were living nearby the institute and for them buses have been arranged to transport to and from the stadium. Every effort has been made to make the event a success. I have been in constant touch with few of my friends in Pune who were working as volunteers for the event. They were regularly updating me on the developments out there. Hundreds of students and teachers from Pune, Mumbai and others have worked tirelessly days and nights to make it a grand success. For the first time the initiative is made from the organizers to interact with people directly on facebook page “Geetaji’s Yoganusasanam - December 2014”. All the developments were updated from time to time and many questions and doubts regarding accommodation, food, travel, transport and other such things have been regularly answered through the page. Geetaji dedicated couple of hours on day 10 at the conclusion ceremony to thank one and all who helped in making this event a success. They deserved all the applaud and appreciation as they have worked to their skin to make it the event of year.

Yoga – the Union:

People say, Yoga is the Union of Individual soul with Supreme soul. I am in no position to understand this yet. But I am certainly sure that “Yoganusasanam” has successfully helped in union and re-union of hearts of different people across the World. 1200 plus people from 58 countries have represented this event for one cause “Yoga”. We were all from different countries, states, cultures, traditions, customs but none of these divisions were seen among people. We all united for one single cause of “Yoga”. Those 10 days were like a carnival for us. Every individual had his own share of experience to take back home.

  

I called it a re-union because many people who have not seen for many-many years have met again on one platform of “Yoganusasanam”. I would like to share a very interesting story of Kumbh Mela. There is a very popular story in India that people once lost in Kumbh Mela will never meet again; because it is such a huge gathering of humans at one place. I must thank Geetaji for re-uniting some of the lost ones in Kumbh Mela. I, Mohit and Sirisha from Hyderabad once again met Manouso, Eric and Anara from US, Fanny from France and couple of others from Delhi who were lost in the Maha Kumbh Mela of Allahabad in 2013. You may be wondering what I am saying. Well, the story goes this way. During early 2013, Manouso was in Kumbh Mela for a 3 day Iyengar Yoga intensive. Due to some unknown reasons a handful of Indian students 5 from Hyderabad and 8 to 10 students from Delhi have attended that intensive and another 10 to 12 students were from US who came with Manouso.

It was just a 3 day intensive but we had great time together. To many of us it was a lifetime experience. Iyengar yoga intensive with a teacher like Manouso at the banks of river Ganga, Jamuna and Sarasvati in the backdrop of Maha Kumbh Mela and who can ask more than that. All the students and teachers including Manouso and his wife Rita have enjoyed every moment we spent together in Kumbh. Those 3 days have just gone leaving memories.

I met Manouso and Eric a few number of times in Pune but haven’t seen any other thereafter. Every time I met Manouso he was always kind enough to receive me with a big hug and his wonderful trademark laughter. It was great to see Anara and Fanny back again. Anara hasn’t forgotten any one of us and neither did Fanny, which was amazing. I met couple of others from Delhi also. It was heartening to see the Kumbh Mela batch again on the same platform.

Galaxy of Stars:

“Yoganusasanam” was filled with Galaxy of stars headed by the mega star Geeta Iyengar herself. Manouso Manos, Patricia Walden, Lois Steinberg, John Schumacher, Gabriella Guibilaro, Stephanie Quirk, Tatiana and many other famous teachers from the west were present. Most of these teachers are familiar to me through their videos and books on internet. When I used to practice without a teacher during my early days into yoga, I used to look out for help and guess who used to come up for help? It was Patricia Walden, Lois Steinberg, John Schumacher and Gabriella through videos, books and journals. I was greatly benefited by Lois Steinberg’s book on shoulders. Getting a chance to meet all of these great teachers, interact and practice alongside them in the same hall was an unbelievable feeling. Just imagine a student like me who looks after someone like Manouso, Lois, Patricia, and John for inspiration is standing alongside me in the same hall, what would be the level of his enthusiasm? Lois Steinberg, whom I silently cherished and admired all my life was standing by my side taking lessons from Geetaji was a great delight. And she is such a humble and sweet person.

             

 

Birjoo, Rajvi, Devki, Gulnaz, Abhay, Rajlaxmi, Zubeen, Uday, Raya, Abhijata, Nawaz, Sunita are the star teachers from India who are not only popular in India but also abroad. I am fortunate enough to have studied with most of these teachers in Pune. It was a great delight to see all these teachers performing asanas on stage following the instructions of Geetaji with such a grace. Every beginner should be thankful to Guruji and Geetaji for providing such an opportunity to participate in the event. Apart from Geetaji’s teachings, all these teachers demonstrating on stage, helping you, guiding you in the hall, learning with you side by side works as a great inspiration for beginners and helps in understanding the essence of practice.

            

Apart from all these teachers, there were few others like Mark Zambon who were the stars of the event. Mark Zambon is a US Marine soldier who injured his legs in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. Two months after his accident he took up Iyengar yoga as a rehabilitation program. He never looked back since then. Here is a short interview of Mark that I shot in his hotel in Pune.

On day six, the little stars of RIMYI – the kids surprised the visitors by some electrifying performance.

    

The Geeta Factor:

I must mention about the Geeta factor or Geeta effect here. Every word she utters shows the level of her knowledge and experience in the subject. She sounds authoritative, practical and very real. Many people think she is a strict, fearsome and stubborn person. Some even find her arrogant. These impressions are more in the minds of western yogis. I never personally interacted with her before and never been to her classes with her, so I had no attributes of her. But I heard people saying all these about her. After attending her classes those ten days I found several facets of her personality. I am not trying to make any judgment but I found some of these facets during my observation as a raw student.

She is no doubt a strict teacher but also a very compassionate teacher who wants to give out the best and also extract complete labor out of a student. She can’t tolerate people doing casually without paying complete attention and effort. She was commanding and sometimes even demanding to get the posture done correctly. Many a times she was furious also with some people. She used to call up people on stage who were doing really bad and not let them go till she makes them do the posture correctly. In the process she might be shouting, yelling to make them do. But that is only till that moment; later she would be again a different person altogether. Her effect was such that people were really nervous to be on stage with her. I think people who were on stage during those days will definitely agree with me. It is not because she is abusing you or shouting at you personally and we all know that. But still there is some unknown fear to face her. It was seen on every individual who had been on stage. This was one facet of her personality.

   

It is not always that she shouted to make the corrections done. For instance, she called upon a lady on stage to do some asana and she was terribly scared and almost shivering. Geetaji realized that and said, “Why are you so nervous? Don’t be scared. I won’t kill you. And I can’t kill you (with jiggles). The entire stadium burst out in laughter. She gave this feeling of relaxation because she knew that lady had a limitation of her age and need to be relaxed before making her do. On another occasion, she called my friend Mohit up on stage to perform a back arch. He was nervous throughout his time on stage but she was seen very patient and soft with him because she knew he is a beginner and did really well on stage for around 10 minutes doing the back arches. She was addressing and instructing him like a friend, which was amazing. She has not let him go until she made him realize what was happening to his sacrum region while he was doing different actions in the back arch. Some people might have found boring and felt the time being wasted but she did not wanted to let him go unknown. This is a typical character we often find in Guruji. Guruji once said in an interview that he cannot just sit and watch when someone is doing a wrong posture. His heart pains when someone does something wrong. He cannot rest in peace until their mistakes are being corrected.

  

During the convention Geetaji once said, Guruji was sitting in the balcony of his room from where he can see the yoga hall. He found a person doing ardha chandrasana very badly and began to shout Raya! Abhajata! When asked what happened? Why are you shouting? You are not well Guruji, you need to rest. He said, look at that fellow; how is he doing the asana? Call Raya and Abhijata to correct him. And he did not relax until they came and corrected. This was few days before his death.” So much he loved yoga that he cannot tolerate someone doing badly. And Geetaji is the daughter of this man and how can she tolerate the same?

During one of the days, they have arranged a surprise by adding the students of children’s classes of Pune in the convention. We got an opportunity to see a new facet of her life. When she was teaching to those kids, the strict, fearsome Geetaji turned into a funny, mischievous and a bubbly child. The way she was teaching them was a delight. I once read in ‘Yoga Rahasya’ Guruji saying that you need to come down to the level of a student to make him understand. And I personally experienced Geetaji doing that; which was amazing.

    

At the end of the convention, Geetaji arranged a mass lunch for all the participants. Before beginning the lunch, addressing the students she said, “Today’s food is tomorrow’s strength; so eat well. You been here for ten days and thankfully by the grace of God, no one was injured or fallen sick. This is not the end but just the beginning, go home and practice well.” Here she sounded like a mother who cares for her children.

We all know that she is not doing well with her health these days. In spite of this, she conducted the convention and she never shown us the labor of pain she has gone through those 10 days. In fact, I observed that she looked better and better as the days progressed. She was seen little low on day one and as the days progressed she looked very enthusiastic.

Yoga Experience at Yoganusasanam:

It is very difficult to define the experience of Yoganusasanam in a single word. I believe every individual has got something from the convention and Geetaji has not let anyone go empty handed for sure. For a raw beginner like me getting an opportunity to learn from Geetaji is a blessing. Learning from one of the highest authorities of yoga is obviously a blessing to the yogi of any stature. Assumptions are on that Geetaji would retire from teaching due to her health condition and Yoganusasanam would probably be the last chance for beginners to study under her. All the beginners who participated in the event must thank Guruji because it was his idea to conduct this convention for beginners. Geetaji during her inaugural speech said, “It was Guruji who suggested conducting this convention and beginners should be given the priority. After the announcement of the event, Guruji’s health deteriorated and they felt like cancelling the event. But Guruji said, ‘No! The event must go on. If I am well I will sit aside and watch.’ But Guruji is no more in his physical body but he is definitely present here watching all of us. Wherever there is yoga, Guruji will be there.” So, true! Guruji has dedicated all his life to yoga. Thank you Guruji, we owe you so much.

It was obviously my first opportunity to learn from Geetaji. Though I practiced Geetaji’s classes from videos, the experience to be in her class is terrible. The charm, the grace, the vibrancy that Geetaji has and the tenacity to extract the best from students was mind blowing. You miss out these qualities on videos. Being in her class live is altogether a different experience.

To me Yoganusasanam is definitely going to remain a memorable event for my life, because I learned how to keep ourselves grounded and not carried away by our practice. It taught me how important the basics are. It is not always you learn and do advance postures and keep improving your flexibility and strength. It is something more than that.

Throughout the convention Geetaji taught very fundamental asanas with basic instructions which I think many would ignore. To take my personal experience for instance; when she made us go to Sirsasana with one leg up, I really struggled and had to rush to the wall to go up. The pose is explained in detail by Geetaji in her preliminary course book. Believe me; I just flipped that page thinking that as a beginner’s pose. And when I did there with one leg up, I was really struggling as if I was doing Sirsasana for the first time. Somehow I managed to go up but again I felt managing would be really a bad idea before Geetaji, so I rushed to the wall and from that moment I am practicing regularly with one leg up at home. This practice has improved my feel of Sirsasana completely.

   

Another reason for Yoganusasanam being a memorable event in my life is that I got answers for many unasked and unanswered questions of mine with regards to my personal practice, my body, my asanas and pranayamas etc. Geetaji answered all those questions without being asked as if she transcribed them from my mind; which is an amazing thing. I strongly feel many other participants might have experienced the same.

She hasn’t hesitated to shower all her knowledge and experience on the aspirants. It was a great opportunity for beginners, senior practitioners and even teachers to learn the subject and keep the values of Iyengar yoga alive. She clearly said in the very beginning of the convention “I want the students, not the teachers. Now days, everybody wants to become a teacher, nobody wants to become a student. I don’t want this.”

She was not only concentrating on beginners and senior practitioners but also some of the patients and pregnant ladies and a large number of teachers from different parts of the World. She hasn’t failed to remind all the teachers not to forget the basic qualities of teaching imparted by Guruji.

Apart from Geetaji’s teachings, we had some very interesting discussions, lectures and screenings on different facets of Guruji and other aspects of yoga and yoga practice by Abhijata, Birjoo, Rajvi and others. We also had some chanting sessions by Sunitaji. For the first time ever, I chanted the complete verses of Patanjali Yoga Sutras and it was a great feeling.

Yoganusasanam has been a great inspiration to many iyengar yogis and I wish Geetaji continues her teaching. I can only pray God to give her good health so that she continues teaching and conducting events like this. Finally I would like to thank Geetaji, Prashantji and all others who were involved in conducting this event. It was a great learning experience.

INCREDIBLE GURUJI

The ferocious Lion of Pune is still roaring. Yes! Exactly I mean by the 94 year old Guruji Sri. B.K.S. Iyengar. Even now he practices for about 3 hours a day without a miss. I am blessed with an opportunity to see him practice live for the first time in my life.

As mentioned many times before in my blog, I began my yoga practice from Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar’s book “Light on Yoga”. Ever since I came to know about Guruji I wanted to see him practice his asanas live with my own eyes. It took me four years to get an opportunity to see him in action. I met him quite number of times but never got an opportunity to see him in full action. Finally in the month of August 2013 I along with my wife Tulsi and a friend Sweta got the grace of Guruji and we got an admission for one month at Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, (RIMYI) Pune. When I updated my status on facebook saying that I am going to Pune for one month yoga classes at RIMYI, many of my friends replied to share my experiences about Guruji’s practice.

This blog “Incredible Guruji” is all about my experiences with Guruji and his practice during those precious 31 days we spent in Pune studying yoga at RIMYI. I was fortunate enough to experience many facets of Guruji’s life during this invaluable period of 31 days. He is a serious yoga practitioner, beloved yoga Guru to millions and never tiring yoga teacher, a complete family man, a very modest, humble, generous and kind human being.

Guruji as a Practitioner:

1^st August 2013 was the day I experienced the delight of watching Guruji practicing his asanas live for the first time in my life. We were allotted 9 am to 12 pm time for practice in the main hall of RIMYI. It was an amazing experience to be the part of same yoga hall where Guruji practices his asanas. It was an exciting and nervous feeling to be practicing before him.

      

      

Taking a short break after my class, I walked into the yoga hall for practice. Guruji was already in and was practicing at one corner of the hall alongside a Trestler. I quietly walked down to the corner where Guruji was practicing to get my yoga mat. When I was finding my belt for practice, Ushaji a senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher from Rishikesh patted my back and said, look what Guruji is doing by pointing a finger at him. Guruji was doing his Sirsasana with his antique clock before him. It was an amazing experience to see a 94 year old man doing Sirsasana with such a majestic poise and charisma. I stood awestruck gazing at him for some time. It was my first time to watch Guruji doing Sirsasana from such a close distance. Believe me, it was the best Sirsasana I have ever seen. I could not believe my eyes to the way he extended his trunk upwards. I saw people doing Sirsasana directly or through media but this one by Guruji was better than the best. I haven’t seen anyone extending the trunk up better than this. People say that Guruji’s postures got better and better with his age and I was really fortunate enough to witness this fact.

I then walked back to my place for practice. Since it was my first day I was not sure what to practice, I decided to practice the asanas taught in the morning class. Though I was practicing at the other corner of the hall, my eyes were still on Guruji. I was more curious to watch Guruji’s practice than do my own practice. After every asana I was looking at Guruji. I was practicing asana after asana and watching Guruji. 30 minutes gone and I have completed half of the asanas taught in a 90 minute class but Guruji was still in his Sirsasana. I was wondering how long he is going to stay more in Sirsasana. Around 20 minutes he did Salamba Sirsasana with hands behind his head and then for another 20 minutes he did niralamba Sirsasana with hands up holding the belt tied to a Trestler. It was the mind blowing stuff for me. Day one and I got an opportunity to see this kind of performance from Guruji. He was so stable and calm during his entire stay in the posture. I have no words to describe this incredible man. It is impossible to take your sight away from Guruji when he is practicing his asanas. I am really blessed to get an opportunity to see him in action this way.

Another fascinating thing about Guruji is that he practices Sirsasana as a first pose and continues with other poses for not less than 2 hours. Even a young man would not dare to do Sirsasana in the beginning of his practice as it tires you completely. He was milking his asanas with his toys called props.

The next time when I saw Guruji I was taken away by surprise. Guruji was in Sirsasana again and this time the pose was quite against the one I saw on first day. Guruji’s one side of the trunk and one of the legs are collapsed and the elbow is wide open. I was keenly observing Guruji wondering what happened to his Sirsasana today. He remained in the asana like that for quite long time. It took me no time to understand that he is doing some kind of experiment with his Sirsasana. But still I asked my teacher Smt. Zarna Mohan on my return about this experience to confirm whether I understood properly. She said, If he sees someone doing a wrong Sirsasana in the medical class or the general class, he often experiments himself to know the cause and effects of the asana before making correction on others. He is still such a keen learner and keeps on trying different things.

One more thing I observed is that Guruji is mostly practicing his inversions, intense backbends and sitting asanas. I haven’t seen him practicing any of the standing asanas during his practice. It is understandable though because he has come up from a serious illness during the last summer. When I met him in the month of April’13 during Dr. B. Raghu’s 60^th birth anniversary he was not even fit for his practice. I was able to see during his practice that a bad cough was still troubling him.

The most fascinating thing about him is that he never misses his practice until it is very essential. He is going to be the one who enters first in the practice hall and is the last to vacate the hall.

On Saturday the 17^th of August 2013, a tragedy took place in Guruji’s family. It’s a kind of double blow for Iyengar family. On one hand, Sunita one of the daughters of Guruji was suffering from breast cancer for a long time and was undergoing a chemotherapy treatment in the hospital. On the other hand, she lost her husband due to heart attack on the same day. It is said that he was found dead in sputa svastikasana. I read in one of the yoga rahasya magazine that it is the last wish of Guruji too. He wants to leave his mortal body doing an asana. I came to know from Peggy one of the senior teachers from USA that Guruji had been warned by his Guru and many others to stop practicing after a certain age. But Guruji never listened to them as he exactly knows what he is doing. He brought so much clarity, quality and purity in his practice that he believes that he can practice till the last breath of his life.

After the death of Guruji’s son-in-law many expected Guruji might not turn up for his practice for a week or two. But I had a gut feeling that he will show up for the practice and he did turned up for practice on the very next day of the funerals. He was seen quite normal during his practice. People felt this double blow might hurt Guruji and make him weak. But I saw no signs of weakness in Guruji. He might have felt sad but he happily accepted the destiny. It reminds me of his words during his interaction with Dalai Lama during a TV interview. Someone asked Guruji saying “Guruji! Yoga teaches detachment and how can we detach ourselves and remain helpless when some of our loved ones is suffering and going through pain?” Then Guruji said, “Though I am a yogi, I had a very good relationship with my wife. She was with me during all my hard times. Since I didn’t have much chance to study with my Guru, I used to work on my alignments and postures with my wife. I don’t even have money to buy a mirror. She used to correct me all the time. When she was ill and admitted in the hospital, I had a class in Mumbai. I went to her and asked, shall I stay with you? She said, No! I will take care of myself. You don’t worry about me and go to take your classes in Mumbai. I went to Mumbai, stayed 2 days and while coming back home in a train one of my students asked me, Guruji! Where would you like to go, to the hospital or home? I said if she is still alive I go to the hospital otherwise I go home. That student started crying and said Guruji! I am sorry I was asked not to tell you until you reach home but she is no more. Guruji said he realized that last night when he had a nightmare.  I realized that she was going to leave her mortal body. I accepted the destiny and after that I put everything into Yoga.”

It is said that he did not had any tears in his eyes when he saw his wife. He sat quietly hugging his children. I don’t think Guruji ever had a bigger pain than this in his life.  Though he is a family man, he is arguably the greatest yogis of our time.

Guruji was seen on and off his practice during the last couple of weeks as he was busy attending funeral proceedings and the last rites of his son-in-law. But he was on his practice as and when he found time in between. He was certainly seen tired travelling to his daughter’s house, attending the proceedings of his son-in-law’s last rites and travelling back home. Whenever he feels tired he used to start his practice with a long Savasana with all the weights on his legs and a blanket covered over his trunk. Many of us do Savasana and many say Savasana is their favorite asana but I am glad to say that I am blessed to see a real Savasana by Guruji. The kind of quietness I saw in the eyes, face, skin and the whole body of Guruji that I am short of words to explain. Bliss would probably the only apt word to explain it.

In spite of the tragedy Guruji was very keen on his practice and teaching his younger students like Raya, Abhijata, Uday, Gulnaz and others.

Guruji as a Teacher:

Though Guruji had retired from active teaching but he hasn’t stopped teaching yet. Even today he attends medical classes and supervises them personally. He still teaches in the women class twice a week. He also teaches the new generation teachers named above during his practice every day.

 

Every Wednesday, Guruji used to take medical classes. You actually have to seek permission by paying some amount to observe medical classes. Moreover you need to be a teacher to attend those classes I guess. We were fortunate enough to have Abhayji’s class on Wednesdays on the second floor. We therefore used sit on the stairs waiting for our turn to get in. This provided us a great opportunity to observe medical classes. It was a great experience to watch a medical class. Whole lot of activities happens in the medical class. Guruji sits on the platform instructing all the teachers working in the class. Sometimes he used to walk to each and every student correcting postures and asking how he feels. It was a fascinating sight to see so many teachers from RIMYI and other parts of the World working altogether in tandem to aid people suffering from various health problems.

Every Wednesday and Saturday used to be a class for women. We haven’t got an opportunity to observe these classes but we learned from Ushaji, Chantal and Peggy few details about the class. It is usually a Guruji’s class conducted by Abhijata or Raya. Guruji practices at one corner of the hall and gives instructions to Raya or Abhijata and they pass on the instructions to the students. You can call it a proxy class. It is said that even though he does his own practice, he keeps an eye on every student even at the other corner of the hall. He is incredible.

 

I was part of his classes during the practice. He used to teach Raya, Abhijata, Uday and sometimes Gulnaz and some others during his daily practice. It was a delight to watch Abhijata and Raya learning from Guruji. Sometimes they really enjoy Guruji and sometimes Guruji fires at them. A few numbers of times I closely observed Guruji giving instructions to them. I realized that Guruji has passed on his entire knowledge to his senior students and now he wants to pass on to this young generation teachers who had the responsibility to carry his work further.

Guruji as a family man:

Though Guruji is a yogi he is always a family man. It is learned that this very fact has created difficulties for him in the past. Ushaji, a senior Iyengar yoga teacher from Rishikesh told us that Guruji was not accepted as a yogi by the community because he is a married man having a family. Guruji shattered all the hypocrisies’ and proved that even a married man can be a serious yoga practitioner.

   

I haven’t seen Guruji interacting with Prashantji or Geetaji much but I got an opportunity to see him practicing and teaching grand daughter Abhijata. Guruji and Abhijata share a great relationship together. They practice together and it is always a fun to watch them practicing. I witnessed him giving instructions to Abhijata on various advance postures and abhijata implementing his instructions to perfection most of the times. Guruji appreciates and applauds if she grasps the information and does well and sometimes she even gets the firing from Guruji.

One of my friends Sweta feels that Abhijata is very lucky to be a grand daughter of Guruji. But I feel she is luckier to be a student of Guruji than a grand daughter. Being a grand daughter she could only get love and affection but being a student she gets love as well as the knowledge and wisdom from Guruji which matters the most.

Abhijata’s father used to bring Sathvika a new born baby of Abhijata to Guruji every morning during his practice hours. It was a great moment to watch him play with Sathvika. I have noticed a very interesting thing about Guruji. He used to play with her swinging her hands, pulling her legs making some gibberish sounds like a child and gives the baby back to Abhi’s father. I have realized that he plays not more than 2 minutes with her. It takes no time for him to detach himself from the affection of the kid and come back to practice. It reminds me of his words from his video “Leap of Faith” where he said that he gets so much love and affection from his students and followers that whenever they come he receives them with love and immediately detaches himself not to get carried away and let the ego develop.

As a beloved Guruji:

  

Above all he is the most beloved Guruji of all. He is so modest, humble, kind and generous that you fall in love with him. Before meeting him I heard and read lot about his temper and attitude. But I found him the most humble and modest person I have ever seen. It is a different thing when he is teaching. You cannot judge the nature of a person with his qualities of a teacher. I don’t think any celebrity in this World apart from Guruji is so easily accessible. He receives one and all whether he knows you or not with great love and affection. I had personally witnessed how difficult it is for him to get away from the starring eyes of hundreds of people everyday even in his practice. People always want to see him, meet him, talk to him, take his autograph and photographs etc. He obliges one and all with great patience because he really understands what that means to them when he acknowledges them with a kind gesture of words, autograph or photograph. His simple gesture can give them a boost of inspiration in their practice of yoga. But I felt people also must understand that he is getting older now, he is also a human being and needs some privacy and we must leave him alone. I have seen him couple of times enjoying privacy over his balcony but then someone sees him and do the pranam and he leaves the place. It is because if one starts doing that another follows and it never stops. It is understandable that meeting Guruji is a sheer joy as I mentioned in my previous blog but we must also respect his privacy, age, time and mood to get an interaction with him.

Blessings of Guruji:

I was also one of them who don’t want to miss any opportunity to make an interaction with Guruji. But I interacted only once this time with Guruji. First few days my eyes were always on him observing his actions. In couple of days I realized that all eyes are gazing him and he is not let alone even in the practice hall. Couple of days more and I realized that he is so sensitive that even these gazing troubles him but he never complains. So I decided not to trouble him any more even by gazing. But I wanted to have his autograph on one of his book before leaving Pune. I was waiting for an appropriate time to happen. It finally happened just one day before we left Pune. I went to the institute in the afternoon to buy some books and props for my practice. Guruji walked in and sat on his seat. He was sitting alone. I went to him along with my friends and bowed before his feet and took his blessings. Then I asked for an autograph which Guruji pleasantly obliged. Then I told Guruji that we are from Hyderabad, students of Zarna Mohan. He said, Yah! Yah! I know. I conveyed the prayers of my teacher and told him that we have come here for one month and tomorrow will be our last day at the institute. Guruji had a broad smile and raised both of his hands and said, ‘God bless you! God bless you!’ This is how our trip to Pune ended.